The genius classroom tool to help children struggling with their feelings

Wendy Golledge

An American secondary school teacher has come up with a brilliant way to help students who are struggling with their feelings – and we're loving it.

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Erin Castillo, a special needs teacher, created a genius mental health board that encourages children to discreetly share their feelings and teachers across the UK are following her lead

This is how it works.

Kids pick up a Post-it and write their name on the back before placing it next to one of six 'feelings'.

The six categories are:

I’m great

I’m okay

I’m meh

I’m struggling

I’m having a hard time and wouldn’t mind a check-in

I’m in a really dark place

Erin then checks the Post-its and has a one-to-one with each of her students to help them with whatever they might be going through.

The chart has performed so well that Erin posted a photo of it on her Instagram account, captioned: ‘I asked my students to write their names on the back of a post-it note so I could check in with ones in the bottom two sections.

‘I was able to start some check ins today, and holy cow these kids. I love them. My heart hurts for them.

‘School is rough sometimes, but I was happy that a few were given a safe space to vent and work through some feelings.

‘I also like that students could visually see that they aren’t alone in their struggles. It was a beautiful minimum day focusing on self care and mental health.’

A post shared by Brittani (@missginfourth) on Mar 26, 2019 at 4:27pm PDT

Thousands of people have commented on Instagram about Erin's chart:

‘As someone who had a couple of amazing teachers in high school who helped me a ton when i wasin a dark place ( i was able to even be excused from classes when i had panic attacks or break down and go to calm down in the counselor's room) I thank you.’ @asherhha

‘This is absolutely fantastic, so special. It should be in every school classroom. This is education. ❤️🙏’ @claire_gursoy

‘I loved this idea so much, I hope you don't mind I translated it into spanish for my bilingual first graders. Such powerful stuff! Thank you for caring about the mental health of our youth!! 😊❤️’ @linettemarice

How does your child’s teacher help them deal with their feelings? Tell us in the chat thread, below.